“Yes! We Have No Bananas” Turns 100

100 years ago today, Frank Silver and Irving Cohn published and copyrighted their novelty number “Yes! We Have No Bananas”. I don’t usually do entire posts on Tin Pan Alley songs but this anniversary seemed worth marking, as it was one of the most iconic and popular songs of the late vaudeville era, and was performed and recorded by Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Billy Jones of the Happiness Boys, Irving Kaufman, Fifi D’Orsay, Benny Goodman, Spike Jones, Louie Prima and others.

The subject of the song, in case the sheet music art above seems too ambiguous, is a Greek-American fruit vendor. In my day, it was the kind of song that used to be included on children’s records. Nowadays, the songs children listen to have unprintable lyrics, and the song about bananas has been condemned as racist. Google “Yes, We Have No Bananas” and “racist” and see! I think it’s a bit overstated, but I certainly have no problem with putting the song in context for readers and audiences, as so many seem to. Just to clarify. My wife is Albanian. Her grandparents were immigrants with accents. I understand why some might be sensitive, and how such apparently little things can explode into much bigger things, so I think its a good idea to run interference and not be misunderstood.

Most people, I realize, think of this as just a wacky song, and have never paid much attention to the lyrics, and hence have no idea that there’s a bit of old school vaudeville ethnic stereotype afoot. Now ya know. And yes, that’s true of all pop culture from back in the day. But we don’t LIVE back in the day. As a general rule, I think it’s a pretty good idea to let your fellow citizens know you aren’t ridiculing them, unless of course it’s your INTENTION to be doing so.

For more on show biz history please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.